The tables provide assumed annual growth rates for cities and urban areas between 2006 and 2020. The assumptions are based on past growth/decline and forecasts by international and national statistics organisations.

Women have fought prejudice and struggled for equal rights and opportunities for hundreds of years. They did it with courage and resolve. In the 20th and early 21st centuries, women have achieved success in many spheres previously reserved to or monopolised by men, but their contributions are still often undervalued and their potential not recognised enough. Only some 20 per cent of the world’s mayors are women.